Dinner Gathering
Arrived at destination 7:05 pm.
The group of friends sat around red sofas as they watched the playback on the projection on the opposite wall. Their audio was delivered through small, white wireless earpieces inserted into their ears. Exchanged were a few comments but more often was the laughter. Occasionally they will pick up and sip their drinks, all while fighting not to spit it out.
The earpieces that the pair wore on their way in fired up as the signals were detected. They walk through the sliding door inset into the polymer wall. The video paused and everyone stopped to look.
“Hi there.” The couple addressed everyone as Alex shut the door behind her.
“Don’t worry, you’re not late. Not a single bit.” Kevin Chase raised his tone from the end of the table before bellowing in laughter.
Alex went over and gave him a big hug.
“I haven’t any idea you are transferring to our office!”
“I know! More opportunities for bowling is never bad.”
“You know how excited I am for you to be back, but I have to ask for your assignment.” Alex darted his eyes around the room before lowering his voice to a hush. “Why did they transfer you back?”
“To see if it would budgetary make sense for San Francisco.” Kevin noticed the little sigh coming from his old friend. “I have a secret. You guys have always been at the top. They will want to cut anyone for any reason. Whatever happens, I told this to Irene, you guys will not be anything but the most efficient and hardworking in the reports. I won’t snitch. Promise.”
“You know how much we love and trust you.” Alex’s face widened into a smile. “Thank you for doing this.”
“No, thank you. For carrying us. For carrying Tag Team to the semis last seasons. For carrying all of us at Irvine.”
The pair was barely able to catch an edge of the cushions as two of them scooted right to leave them some room.
“No, you guys aren’t late.” Irene gave Kevin a look. “It's been a while!"
“About four hours. Long while, I know.” Alex stilled his sight on Irene.
The red-haired girl in the fleece jacket pulled Angel closer to herself as some of the others stood up and moved.
"We're just looking at the videos from last year. The raft? Does it ring a few bells?" Irene tried to help her return to their circle again. She tightened the knot that held her hair up.
"The raft. Yeah... It did not end well." Angel squeezed out a smile of mischief.
“You should have seen the look on Mr. P when they had the mini capsize. Worth going back there with that memory snippet alone.”
“You can always rewatch that, I suppose,” Angel squeezed a smile.
“You alright?” Irene Walker’s red hair flicked slightly as she turned to check. “How's your homeboy?"
"Him?" She glanced in Alex’s direction briefly to see if he is occupied while her face flushed pink. "He hasn't been away from me— in forever.”
"I told you he loves you dearly. You two get along." The director glanced at the rest of the room. “San Francisco wanted Kevin and Eric to commit full-time in Irvine in case I gotta go. Go say hi.”
Angel awkwardly nodded and gave a small giggle as an acknowledgment.
“I’m just a bit curious, what do you people do?” Eric asked.
“What do you earn ‘what do we do?’ We go to work. Like normal people?” Kevin beamed back. “We clock in, and clock out? And then we put together projects?”
“No. This wasn’t the answer I’m looking for. What do you people actually do? You guys edit videos, and film, and make advertising?”
“We don’t work in marketing. Alex, do any of us work in that category?”
Alex’s eyes shifted to the side as he conjured up details of their day-to-day.
“Not really, those positions are traditionally reserved for the associates that we coordinate and work with. We don’t even wield the cameras. We just sit in our room, working on the minors. The likes of video timeline assembly work and audio optimization.”
“Me and Ricky go edit videos. He’s the master at putting together video, but I fix the visuals— Individual frames, and the color correction, and the detail. He’s the master. You should buy him lunch when one of the projects end up being one of your favorites visually. A treat.”
A small robot wheeled itself into the room while the door closes behind it.
The droid squealed for their attention as it displayed a question.
Did someone in this room order nachos? Yes. No.
Irene stood up to tap yes. The droid spun in delight, then its front panel flipped open for the group.
Alex stood up, garnered Angel among his arms, and brought her over to his side.